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Kevin Shwedo to Continue Leading S.C. Department of Motor Vehicles

January 22, 2019

COLUMBIA, S.C – Governor Henry McMaster today announced that Kevin Shwedo will continue serving as executive director of the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (SCDMV). Executive Director Shwedo was first appointed to his current position by former Governor Nikki Haley in January of 2011.

“Kevin Shwedo knows the importance of customer service at the Department of Motor Vehicles and has a passion for making sure each and every South Carolinian who walks in the door has a productive and efficient experience,” said Gov. Henry McMaster.

“It’s my honor to be asked back by Governor McMaster to continue serving the citizens of this great state,” said Executive Director Shwedo. “I have loved visiting every SCDMV office in the state each year, while learning from employees and customers how to best serve our citizens. Those best practices are shared with the entire SCDMV team during mandatory Wednesday morning training sessions that ensure every member of Team SCDMV is competent, committed, and courteous. The agency’s focus for the next two years will be to do everything it can to continue providing fast visit times despite the significant increase of lengthy transactions created by large numbers of REAL ID cards that will be issued during the next 18 months.”

In the spring of 2017, Governor McMaster directed the State of South Carolina to become REAL ID compliant and begin issuing REAL ID driver’s licenses and identification cards that meet the federal standard. Not long after, the SCDMV started accepting identity documents for people interested in purchasing this new style of license or ID, a process of which 100,000 South Carolinians took advantage. Coupled with citizens who already have identity documents on file, this means that nearly one million South Carolinians can avoid the SCDMV altogether and purchase a REAL ID license online from home. More than 515,000 South Carolinians now have REAL IDs.

The SCDMV has increased registered organ and tissue donors by more than 984,000 donors since 2014. Now, more than two million South Carolinians are registered donors. According to Donate Life SC’s 2017 annual report, there were 166 organ donor recipients, 838 eye donor recipients, and 260 tissue donor recipients in the state. Of all donor registrations in South Carolina, 97% came from citizens registering in SCDMV offices. In 2019, the SCDMV anticipates the number of registered organ, eye, and tissue donors will have doubled in six years.

In 2015, following the “1,000-year Flood,” SCDMV Executive Director Kevin Shwedo was appointed to lead the Disaster Recovery Office (DRO), an apolitical section of state government designed to assist the most vulnerable citizens impacted by the historic storm. While the office is now under new leadership, Executive Director Shwedo remains heavily involved in the recovery efforts by serving as Chair of the Board.